pinckney



(No Model) S. R. PINOKNEY.

Fir'e Eso'ape, v No. 237,316. Patented Feb. 1, I88

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NPETERS, FNOTO-LIYNOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D C

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFicE.

STEPHEN R. PINOKNEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 237,316, dated February 1, 1881.

Application filed December 1, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN R. PINGKNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes for Buildings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of fireescapes constituting a permanent fixture of a building; and its general object is to so arrange the apparatus that while its working parts are both protected and concealed from 1 view under normal conditions, the whole can be readily brought to a position for use.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a building as it appears when the fireescape is not in use. Fig. 2 is a view showing the escape in a position for use. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section corresponding to Fig. 2.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

The letter A designates the front of a building, to which I have shown my invention applied; B, the niche or recess thereof; 0, the shutter, and D thefire-escape.

The recess or niche B is formed on the exterior and upper part of the building, in either of its exposed walls, and preferably in a line adjacent to the middle windows, and it is usually provided with a frame, E, into which the shutter G is fitted. This shutter O is hung on hinges F, which are so arranged that the shutter is adapted to take its place in the frame E, thus closing the recess B.

The fire-escape D is so constructed that it may enter the recess B, and it-is a fixture of the shutter G, the same being applied to its inner surface. Thus when the shutter O is closed the fire-escape D is brought within the recess B, where its parts are protected and concealed from View, while when the shutter is opened the escape is at once brought into a position for use. p

The fireescape may be of any well-known or other construction, so long as it is permanently connected toand carried with the hinged shutter, and it is desirable that this fire-escape should be so constructed that after its descent it can be automatically returned to its normal position-as, for example, in the Letters Patout No. 207,705, dated September 3, 1878.

The letter Gr designates the lockwhereby the shutter G is held in its closed position, and

both to the occupants of the building and to persons on the street, as a fireman.

The letter J indicates a locking-support for engaging with the shutter 0 when it is swung open, in order to hold and maintain said shutter in an oblique position with respect to the wall of the building, thereby holding the fireescape a short distance away from the same. which result is very desirable in order to permit of the efiective and convenient operation of the apparatus. In the present instance the locking-support consists of a spring-catch attached to the wall of the building and adapted to automatically engage the edge of the shutter when the latter is thrown open.

Heretofore the wall of a building has been provided with a recess closed by a hinged shutter, said recess having an inclined bottom, there being attached within the recess one end of a chain-ladder, which latter is wound upon a reel which rests on the inclined bottom of the recess, and is held therein by the shutter when in its closed position. When this shutter is opened there will be no support to the reel, and it will roll out and fall to the ground, the ladder unwinding as the reel falls. This construction of a fire-escape not being my invention is hereby disclaimed.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The shutter O, hinged at one side of the niche or recess B in the wall of a building, and carrying on its inner side a permanentlyattached fire escape, in com bination with a locking-support attached to the building for engaging with the shutter when swung open, and supporting it in an oblique position with respect to the wall of the building, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

/ STEPHEN R. PINOKNEY.

Witnesses:

J. HERMANN WAHLERS, E. F. KASTENHUBER. 

